Study Notes on Socio-cultural Factors for UGC NET Exam

Socio-cultural factors and their influence on business

There are many external and internal factors that affect the business in the long-run. The external factors are those which cannot be controlled by the organisations whereas the internal factors are controlled by the organisations. Out of many such external factors, Socio-cultural factor is the one. 

• In the era of globalization, the world is heading towards greater dynamism and this has accelerated the business environment globally. 
• There are hundreds of multinational companies operating across the globe. In order to operate the business across the globe, these companies need to follow a set of rules and regulations known as cross-cultural ethics. 
• These factors play a very vital role in the existence and sustainability of the business in the long run. 

The word ‘socio-culture’ has been derived from two words society and culture. Society and Culture are both external factors (beyond anyone’s control) that have a direct effect on business.

• Society consists of a group of people who live together and share the same geographical area. 
• Culture is the shared values in a group of people which can be derived from having different ideas, arts, science, skills, knowledge etc.
• These serve as a selection criterion for the companies to operate or business to target their market and make strategies based on the key elements of culture.

The features based on which we can determine the culture of a society are:-

• Culture is dynamic and keeps on changing with time.
• Culture is bounded by rules that the people of a locality, community, region, or nation follows.
• Culture is also determined by the groups or unit that a person stays in.
• Culture is also based on the survival of the people over the years.
• Culture is a reflection of attitudes, values, beliefs, norms etc. that has occupied the people’s mind over a long period of time.
• Culture of the people tends to change over time based on their needs and requirements.

The socio-cultural factors that influence a business are:-

• Level of income –  Level of income of the people is highly dependent on the type of work they do. It is used by the organisations to devise their pricing strategies for the target group of people or customers.

For example: If a company serves in a country or region with very low levels of income per person, it needs to keep the prices of the goods accordingly so as to create a market for their goods in that country or region.

• Level of education – Level of education also determines the survival of the business in a culture.

For example Print media for advertising is possible in a culture where the people are educated.

• Demographics – Age group of people in the society helps to know what kind of product is to be sold in a given market. 

For example A society with more no. of infants will serve as a better market for infant products such as baby soap, baby diapers, toys, etc. On the other hand society with the majority of old-age people will serve as a market for products such as walking sticks, etc which are needed by old people.

• Sex Ratio – The no. of men and women ratio is also a discriminant factor that is a deciding point for the business about the products that will work well in the market.

For example – Society with a huge number of men will serve as a good market for men’s grooming products. Whereas, if the society has more of the female population it will serve as a better market for beauty products and cosmetics.

• Religion – Religious beliefs of the people also help the business to make decisions and policies weather to explore the area as a market or not. 

For example – It can be easily seen that coffins are sold more in the area where there are more Christians have the ritual of burying the dead bodies whereas for Hindus bodies are burned after death.

• Eating habits – The dietary requirements and eating habits of people of a region highly dependent on the geography of the region and this factor also plays a very big role in the sustainability of a business.

For example – If the people of a region largely consume food grains, a company serving that region needs to be very particular about the range of their products. People there probably would not consume processed foods. So a food processing company would not be able to capture the market there.

Examples where socio-cultural factor led to important decisions regarding their brand:-

1. McDonald’s vegetarian variants were launched only after it was launched in India for it came to know that India is a country with a large proportion of vegetarian customers.
2. Many of the multinational companies outsource their work to India because of the availability of cheap manpower in India that’s why a lot of BPO and KPO find their hub in India.

Thus, socio-cultural factors although not in the control of any company, plays a very important role in the decision making and all the companies keep it in mind while making any decision in the business unit. 

UGC NET Paper 2 Syllabus 2022 – Topics Wise Details

The UGC NET Test will consist of two papers. Paper 1 has 50 questions with each question comprising of 2 marks. Paper 2 will have 100 questions of 2 marks each. The direct link to the UGC NET syllabus pdf is linked below. Go through the UGC NET Exam Pattern 2022. 

Note: The duration of the examination will be 3 hours only. There will be no break. It will be a CBT mode examination and the candidate can choose any paper to attempt first. 

UGC NET Exam Pattern

• The cut-off will be decided after obtaining marks out of 300 (Paper I and Paper II).

Papers	Total number of Questions	Total Marks	Duration
Paper I	50	100	3 hour duration
Paper II	100	200

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